My Senior Pastor led us through an excerpt from a book that John Ortberg wrote, and in that book, he talks about the concept of “Hope Bandits”. They exist in every church, and I would submit to you that also exist in every worship ministry. See if these sound at all familiar…
THE CONTRARIAN - this is a person who believes no idea is so sound that a hole can’t be poked in it. When he hears a suggestion, his reflexive response is to cite times in the past when similar ideas didn’t work and further reason why it won’t work in the future.
THE ALARMIST - this person is the lightning rod for every concern and they become a walking megaphone for every potential worst-case scenario.
THE CRITIC - this is the person whose ministry is to evaluate your ministry. They are usually self-appointed.
THE CYNIC - cynicism is the gift of prophecy gone sour. Cynics sap our hope because they believe the worst without calling for the best.
THE HYPE MACHINE - this is the larger than life character who loves to “build people up”. They are like an energy drink - they give you a quick energy buzz followed by a crash and burn.
“One day, every circumstance and situation that we are hoping for is going to wear out, give out, fall apart, melt down, or go away. When that happens, the question is about your deeper hope… your foundational hope… it’s all about your fall-back hope when all of your other hopes have been disappointed.”
- Lew Smedes
Do any of these “Hope Bandits” sound familiar? How have you dealt with them? What wisdom can you offer? What questions do you have?
Tags: Leadership, Personality Dynamics, Worship Leading, Worship Ministry
I am an associate minister and music director/pastor (whatever you’d like to call it) at a church in Anacortes, WA. Before I got signed on here, the worship ministry was somewhat chaotic, with no actual leaders taking charge - just people who would fill in when they could.
There was a group of folks who were turned off by the lack of consistency in talent and/or theological accuracy (and probably rightly so). This group would meet in the back of the sanctuary after every service and critique the whole service together. If they had enough to say, they would write letters to the worship leader of that week and sometimes the pastor himself.
Now, this could have been a potentially healthy thing if treated right, but what ended up happening was that every time a worship leader got up there, the top thing on his/her mind was the fear of what this group in the back would think or say. Imagine getting up in front of people, feeling like you don’t have much to offer in the first place besides a willingness to serve, and then knowing that these people are going to go huddle in their group after the service and talk about everything you did wrong. It led to division and hard feelings, but more importantly, the entire service began to lose its fire - driven by fear of man rather than fear of God.
I think that maintaining a solid grounding of hope is essential for the worship leader. This has to be the main thing that drives him/her. That is why theology is also important - we have know what exactly our hope is so that we can cling to it.
I recently finished a really good book that has just knocked my socks off and given me a fresh and new inspiration. It’s called “Surprised by Hope” by N.T. Wright. Pick it up this Easter Season. It’s not just for worship leaders, but it relates in every way, and has a really good section on worship as well.
Those are my thoughts. Thanks Sam for what you’re doing.